Olentangy Orange puts its unbeaten Ohio Capital Conference Central Division record on the line Friday, Oct. 9, when the Pioneers host Upper Arlington at 7 p.m.

The defending Division I state champions enter at 4-3 overall and 2-0 in OCC Central play. Upper Arlington arrives at 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the division after Olentangy Liberty handed the Golden Bears a 13-12 loss on Oct. 2. Orange enters Friday ranked 11th in Division I, Region 3, where the top 12 teams qualify for the playoffs. A victory would strengthen the Pioneers’ position with two regular-season games remaining.”

A rivalry with recent history

The teams have met in three consecutive seasons. Orange won 28-14 in the 2025 regular season and 28-20 in the 2024 regular season, according to head-to-head records on the Olentangy Orange football site. Upper Arlington ended Orange’s 2024 season with a 24-20 playoff victory.

The stakes are familiar.

Different team, same expectations

Orange's 2026 roster looks nothing like the group that went 15-0 and beat Cincinnati St. Xavier 28-14 for the state title in December 2025, as Spectrum News 1 reported. The Pioneers graduated more than 30 seniors, including 16 starters and Mr. Football finalist Levi Davis.

Only three players returned to the same positions they held during the championship run: senior wide receiver Jake Luling, senior linebacker Brennan Kesler and junior tackle Jake Hendon, according to a Delaware Source preseason report.

"Talent wise I think we're relatively the same. We have a lot of younger guys with talent," Kesler said in an August preseason interview with 270 Gridiron.

Kesler holds the program's single-season sack record with 13. He also led the team in tackles and forced fumbles during the 2025 title run and holds offers from Bucknell and Miami University.

Head coach Wes Schroeder, now in his third year leading the program, and Luling discussed the team's playoff outlook in a Columbus Dispatch video preview published Thursday, Oct. 8.

OCC Central picture

Orange and Liberty sit tied atop the OCC Central at 2-0 in league play. Upper Arlington, Hilliard Bradley (1-1), Hilliard Davidson (0-2) and Dublin Coffman (0-2) round out the division.

Liberty's Oct. 2 win over UA was a one-score thriller. Max Ford returned a kickoff 92 yards for Liberty's only touchdown, according to cleveland.com's Week 7 game balls. UA kicker Edward Oakley, a Yale commit, accounted for all 12 of the Golden Bears' points on four field goals, including a 45-yarder.

That result dropped UA to No. 17 in the HSFA Ohio Top 25, according to rankings published Thursday, Oct. 8.

What's ahead

After Friday's game, Orange travels to Hilliard Bradley on Oct. 16 before closing the regular season at home against Liberty on Oct. 23 in a matchup that could decide the OCC Central title.